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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Poetry To Spam Haters' Ears
by Bara Vaida and Maureen Sirhal
As a leader in the fight against spam, Anne Mitchell is hoping to lend her skills to a new startup firm aimed at reducing junk e-mail.
Mitchell is the former legal director for the Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS), the e-mail blacklisting service, and has earned a reputation as a vigilant anti-spam activist. Recruited by the venture-capital firm Skymoon, Mitchell has been tapped to lead Palo Alto-based Habeas as its first president and CEO.
The firm is taking a new, somewhat unconventional approach to attack the growing problem of unsolicited commercial e-mail. Habeas is using copyright and intellectual property laws to subject firms that send unwanted junk e-mail to tougher penalties.
Habeas' service injects a three-line haiku poem in the headers of users' e-mail addresses. The poem contains software code that recipients set their e-mail filters to recognize. But because the haiku is copyrighted, potential spammers that try to use the system could be prosecuted for copyright infringement, which could carry penalties of more than $1 million per violation.
The service is free to individuals and Internet service providers, and Habeas already counts Microsoft's WebTV and several popular anti-spam software vendors among early clients.
"Existing law offers little protection from spammers who also continue to find new ways to beat even the most sophisticated filtering technologies," Mitchell said. "Technology alone can't stop spam. But existing copyright and trademark law used in conjunction with Habeas' patent-pending system allows us to sue and shut down spammers while protecting legitimate senders of mail."
Administration Makes Series Of Staff Changes
Harry Clark has been named to the new position of counselor to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), officials said Monday. The former managing partner of Clark and Weinstock, a public relations and advertising firm, Clark will help advance key department initiatives at USTR. Clark also served as an aide to former U.S. Trade Representative William Brock and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp.
In other administration news, Marc Sumerlin is leaving his position as deputy assistant to the president for economic policy and deputy director of the National Economic Council. Sumerlin worked for Bush during the campaign and helped guide the administration through the debates over tax cuts and economic stimulus legislation. Keith Hennessey, who is currently the policy director for Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss, will replace Sumerlin. Before joining Lott's office, Hennessey spent two years at the Senate Budget Committee.
White House National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice also announced that Rand Beers has been named special assistant to the president and senior director for combating terrorism. For the past four years, Beers has been assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs.
And FBI executive assistant director Dale Watson is retiring to take a job in the private sector. Watson is a 24-year special agent who has served in the agency's counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence roles since 1982 and has overseen the investigation of both the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax mailings.
The FBI also announced that Bruce Gebhardt will become executive assistant director for criminal investigations, replacing Ruben Garcia. Gebhardt will oversee initiatives to streamline operations, revitalize information infrastructure and refocus the agency's priorities and investigative approaches. Gebhardt most recently oversaw criminal and cyber investigations.
New Faces At Telecom, Tech Firms
SBC Communications has named Priscilla Hill-Ardoin as senior vice president of regulatory compliance. She will lead the company's new compliance unit, ensuring that SBC maintains full compliance with all state and federal regulations. Previously, Hill-Ardoin was the senior vice president of FCC issues for the company.
Elsewhere in the private sector, Influence Online reports that Qwest Communications International has added two lobbyists to its Washington office: Michael Rubin and Robert Dunkel. Both most recently were at the U.S. Telecom Association (USTA), where Qwest's new senior vice president of federal policy, Gary Lytle, was once interim president. Rubin, who will be vice president of federal relations, was the top USTA lobbyist; Dunkel, who will be executive director of congressional affairs, has worked at Comsat, Lockheed Martin and Times Mirror.
Randy Walker has been named corporate executive vice president of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), where he will oversee the company's commercial and international business activities. Most recently, Walker was general manager of IBM's business-innovation services group throughout the Asia Pacific region.
And Leslie Bottoms, who has been a spokeswoman to James Barksdale since Barksdale left his job as CEO of Netscape Communications, is leaving to join Neoteris, a network security company. Bottoms represented Barksdale through the San Francisco-based public relations firm Spark PR. Her replacement at Spark is Rachel Yarmey.
Bad News, Good News In California Campaign
TechNet, the bipartisan lobbying group, recently forwarded to its e-mail list an invitation to an Aug. 23 fundraiser in Orange County, Calif., for California Republican gubernatorial challenger Bill Simon. Simon reportedly needs money, as he is slashing his campaign staff nearly in half in his race against Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.
AP reports that the campaign said Wednesday that about 30 people are being laid off from a staff of more than 70. A Simon spokesman declined to specify who is being let go but said most top officials would remain in place. Davis had some $30 million in his campaign treasury at the last reporting deadline, June 30, compared with $5 million for Simon.
In related news, President Bush is scheduled to attend a series of Simon fundraisers in California late this week. A White House press release notes that Bush will participate in a Stockton luncheon and Dana Point evening reception on Friday, and a breakfast in Westwood on Saturday.
From Lawmaking To 'Law & Order'
Since Sen. Fred Thompson is retiring from Congress, he has decided to return to his acting roots and is expected to appear as the new chief prosecutor on NBC's "Law & Order," news organizations report. He will be on the show beginning Oct. 2, though his term does not end until January. The 59-year-old Thompson won former Vice President Al Gore's Senate seat in 1994 and was re-elected in 1996. Thompson was chairman (and is now ranking Republican) of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees some e-government issues.
Telecom 101
FCC Chairman Michael Powell recently launched FCC University to provide continual professional development and training for agency staffers. Courses will be provided through FCC staff, guest lecturers, off-site universities and professional associations.
"For the commission to function effectively and carry out its current and future mission, it must build a first-class operation that is fluent in the language of new and emerging technologies," Powell said in a statement.
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